Photo Journal: Heian heroine

University student Sayo Tomita poses for photographs on April 11, 2017, after she was announced as the saio-dai, or heroine, of this year's Aoi Matsuri festival in Kyoto, scheduled for May 15. The Aoi Matsuri dates back 1,000 years or more. In the modern version, people dress in Heian period costumes to re-enact a procession of Imperial officials and aristocratic ladies to the Shimogamo and Kamigamo shrines to present offerings. Each year, a different woman is chosen to play the festival's leading lady in the parade. Tomita, a second-year student at Kyoto's Doshisha University, says her two elder sisters will be joining her in the parade. (Mainichi)